Clothespin



Dec. 18,-1'923.

P. C. PARTENIO CLOTHESFIN Filed April, 11 1923 l/V/T/VESSES 4 TTOR/VE VS Patented f ec. id, 1 3123 PETER CHAR-LES PARTENIO, or BROOKLYN, new YORK.

GLOTHESPIN.

Application filed April 11, 1923. Serial no. 631,395.

o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER C. PARrENIo, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in @lothespins, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to clothespins primarily designed for use in mounting articles of clothing on clothes lines.

Ordinarily, clothes lines which have been exposed to the weather and the dust and dirt carried in the air are in a very dirty condition and unless properly cleaned mark any article of clothing that is folded across them. The usual type of clothespin is the two-pronged type which serves to lit over an article of clothing after it has been folded across a clothes line, clamping it in position and cannotbe used for gripping the article of clothing and suspending it from the clothes line without bringing the article into contact with the clothes-line. Consequently, a clothespin designed for gripping the article of clothing and suspending it from a clothes line without bringing the two into Contact would be of great value in the drying of washed clothes. v

The general object of the invention is the provision of a cheap, simple and efficient clothespin provided with jaw members for projecting over an article of clothing that has been folded across a clothes line to clamp it in position, said elothespin also being provided with a pair of gripping jaws that may be attached to an article of cloth ing, and having another aw which co-operates with the gripping jaws for mounting the clothespin on a clothes line to suspend the article carried by the gripping jaws from the clothes line.

This object is accomplished by forming from a single wire by doubling back one end upon the wire a gripping jaw, folding the body of the wire to form a spring loop member, doubling a portion of the wire djacent the spring loop member back upon itself to form an independent arm extending parallel to the gripping jaw, and doubling the other end of the wire back upon itself to form a gripping jaw extending parallel to the first-mentioned gripping jaw and capable of movement transversely to the firstmentioned gripping jaw.

This and other objects of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the clothespin, showing it projected over an article of clothing folded across a clothes line;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the clothespin, showing an article of clothing gripped by the gripping jaws and how the gripping aws co-operate with another jaw for attaching the clothcspin to a clothes line;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the clothespin, showing the construction of the pp g j w Figure eis a perspective view of the clothespin, showing its construction.

Referring to the above-mentioned drawings, the invention includes a single piece of wire 10, one end 11 of which is doubled back on a part of the body portion, forming a gripping aw 12. The portion adjacent the grippin jaw 12 is curved to form a spring loop 13. Next the spring loop and depending therefrom is an independent jaw 14 6X tending parallel to the gripping jaw 12 and formed by doubling a portion of the body of the member 10. The body portion is again bent'downward from the point 15 which is at the top of the independent jaw 1%. A second gripping aw 16 is formed by doubling the other end of the member 10 back upon itself and winding the end portion 17 about one arm of the independent jaw 14. The end 11 is wound about the body at 18 so as to retain the jaw 12 in shape.

Formed integral with the jaw 12 is a projection 19 which extends between the arms of the jaw 16, forming a locking member for retaining the clothes line 20 in position between the gripping jaws 12 and 16 and the independent aw l-il. The independent jaw is curved outward at 21 so as to guide the clothes line 20 into position be tween the independent aw 14 and the grip ping jaws.

The operation of this clothespin is as follows:

hen an article of clothing 22 has been folded across a line 20, as shown in Figure 1, the clothespin is placed in position with the jaw 14 on one side of the clothes line and the gripping jaWs l2 and 16 on the other, serving to clamp the article of clothing in position on the line, function,-

7 ing in a similar manner to the ordinary twopronged clothespin. When it is desired to suspend the article of clothing from a clothes line without bringing itinto contact with the latter, the loop member 10 is compressed, carrying the jaw 12 transverse- 1y of the jaw 16 to the left side of said jaw. The article of clothing 22 is then projected between the jaws and the loop member released. The resilient loop member then projects the jaw 12 transversely of the jaw 16, carrying it to the right side of the jaw 16. This gives the gripping jaws a firm grip of the article of clothing. The clothespin is then attached to the clothes line by projecting the clothespin over the clothes line 20, as shown in Figure 2, positioning the jaws 12 and 16 on one side and the jaw 1 L on the other. When the clothespin has been forced home into position the projection 19 extends beneath the clothes line, locking the clothespin in position. The clot-hes line also serves to lock the jaws in the position shown in Figure 2 thus preventing the article of clothing from sliding from between the jaws.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention 1 do not limit myself strictly to the exact details herein illustrated since manifestly the same can be considerably Varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims:

1. A clothespin for suspending articles of clothing from a clothes line, comprising a body, jaw members depending from said body for gripping the article of clothing and an independent jaw depending from said body and extending parallel to said article gripping jaws and co-operating with the latter to engage the clothes line, and a locking member for lockin the clothespin in position on the clothes dine formed inlooking the clothes line in position between the independent aw and the gripping aws.

3. A. clothespin for use in attaching articles of clothing to a clothes line, comprising a single wire bent back upon itself to form a gripping jaw, a loop member formed on the wire and extending above said grip ping jaw, an independent jaw formed in the wire below the loop member by doubling the wire back upon itself, and a second gripping jaw formed on the other end of the wire, said second gripping jaw being adapted for moving transversely of the first gripping jaw to co-operate with the latter to grip an article of clothing, said grippingj aw and independent jaw serving as a means'for attaching the clothespin to a clothes line, and means formed on one or" the gripping jaws for locking the clothes line in position between the independent jaw and the grip ping jaws.

4. A clothespin for attaching articles of clothing to a clothes line, comprising spring loop member, two spring gripping jaws depending from said spring loop member for engaging an article of clothing, an independent spring jaw depending from said spring loop member and extending parallel to the gripping jaws to form a means for attaching the clothes to the clothes line, and means formed integral with the gripping jaws for locking the clothes line in position in the clothespin.

PETER CHARLES PARTENIO. 

